Stroke survivor Patricia on the golf course with friends and family.
Stroke Survivor Back
in the Swing of Things Palos Heights resident Patricia has always enjoyed an active social life, whether that means spending time with family, meeting friends to play sports or volunteering in the community. One night, after a successful game of bridge with friends, she said her goodbyes and drove home. While getting ready for bed just a few minutes later, her left side went numb, and she ended up falling in her bathroom. Momentarily stunned, Patricia suspected she was having a stroke. Lying on the floor and in pain from the fall, she “knew she had to do something.” Patricia has lived on her own since her husband passed away, and although two daughters live close by, no
one would be visiting her any time soon. With her cell phone on the kitchen counter, there was only one option: use her good foot to push herself 25 feet across the floor to reach her phone and call for help. “I must have quit three or four times,” said Patricia. Unable to move her left side, she could only move a few inches at a time. Exhausted, she finally reached her phone half an hour later and called Siri®, the voice searching tool installed on newer iPhones. Siri® called 911 and connected Patricia with a dispatcher, who contacted paramedics. Patricia was taken to the Palos Hospital Emergency Department where she was evaluated by
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medical staff. Although late at night, she was examined by a stroke specialist using Palos’s new telemedicine robot. “I remember being at Palos, talking to a doctor that looked like R2D2 from Star Wars.” In reality, Patricia was speaking to a neurologist remotely based at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. Palos’s clinical affiliation with Loyola offers patients round-theclock access to stroke specialists. When stroke patients are brought to Palos, neurologists at Loyola can see, hear and talk to them, as well as to family members, Palos Emergency Department staff and physicians. Equipped with a microphone and a full-color, highdefinition camera, the robot
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